Mumbai: Former Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has recently praised ICC’s number one Test batsman Steve Smith and said that his “organised mindset” and “complicated technique” differentiates him from other batsman because of their conventional batting style.
The ‘Master Blaster’ of Indian cricket heaped praises on the former Australian skipper after Smith made a remarkable comeback to the recently concluded Ashes Test series.
Describing Smith’s batting technique, Tendulkar tweeted, “COMPLICATED TECHNIQUE but an ORGANIZED MINDSET is what sets @stevesmith49 apart. Incredible comeback!#ENGvsAUS.”
Smith, who was handed a one-year ban for his alleged involvement in the 2018 sand-paper gate scandal, had a phenomenal run in the Ashes. The 30-year-old garnered 774 runs from seven innings at a whopping average of 110.57 in the Ashes against England.
This is my take on @SteveSmith49’s recent success in the Ashes. pic.twitter.com/qUNktHt5ps
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 19, 2019
Tendulkar in his post stated that Smith’s has an inimitable batting style, which is unorthodox, as well as genius.
In his tweet Sachin stated, “In the first Test, the English bowlers tried to get him caught behind the wickets with slips and gully in place. And Smith just shuffled across and exposed his leg stumps to cover the line, and was selective and smart in his approach. At Lord’s, they had leg-slip for him on occasions and a few short-pitched deliveries against Jofra Archer got him in trouble as he tried to cover the line with the weight on his back-foot.”
However, during the first innings of the second Ashes Test, Smith was hit by a deadly bouncer from Jofra Archer. Smith was hit so badly that he didn’t bat in the second innings. Due to the severe blow, Smith also missed the third Test at Headingley.
At the end, the ‘little master’ explained what Smith could have done to avoid the deadly bouncer. Describing the method to avoid a deadly bouncer, Sachin stated, “The most important thing for any batsman is to keep the head position forward and wait leaning forward or marginally in-line. Smith got into bad positions and that’s how he probably got hit. In the final two Tests, he was leaving the ball while leaning forward, and looked in better positions. He worked on his technique very smartly. That is why I say, ‘complicated technique, but extremely organised mindset’.”
